Sport England under attack over leisure agenda

Tuesday 5 June 2007 19.30 EDT
First published on Tuesday 5 June 2007 19.30 EDT

The new leadership of Sport England is coming under fire from sports' governing bodies, with executives privately expressing frustration and anger at the organisation's new direction.

Under Derek Mapp as chairman and Jennie Price as chief executive, Sport England has opted to focus exclusively on increasing the participation of those over 16 years of age.

With the list of acceptable activities not confined to traditional sports, the move has left governing bodies believing that the "sport" in Sport England has been sacrificed and that funding cuts will see under-16s ill-served. "Under Derek Mapp the sport seems to be disappearing in favour of a health-and-leisure agenda and there's a lot of frustration out there," said one governing-body source.

Olympic and non-Olympic governing bodies have privately voiced their concerns, with some raising the issue directly with Tessa Jowell and Richard Caborn. The complaints are driven in part by anxiety that the current funding arrangement, which delivers a four-year settlement to governing bodies, will not be repeated when it expires in 2009.

Mapp rejects the complaints. "We are working every day with governing bodies to help them drive up participation in their sports. It is simply incorrect to claim sports clubs and coaches will suffer from our clear focus on getting more people aged 16-plus playing sport," he explained.

"There is a clear structure . . . with the Youth Sport Trust driving up the quality of school sport, UK Sport with its remit on elite development and Sport England squarely focused on developing community sport through its partners, including NGBs."

All systems go for logo

Despite the kicking handed out to the new London 2012 logo, Olympic officials remain convinced that they have made the right choice and are taking comfort in the design achieving widespread coverage. Having appeared on most newspaper front pages and all major TV news bulletins, the brand has been established far quicker, insiders feel, than had they published a tame corporate logo. Many people will never be convinced that the design is a thing of beauty but its flexibility is evident in the full-page newspaper ads taken out by the London 2012 sponsor Lloyds TSB yesterday, featuring the logo in its corporate colours.

Bookies fear the worst

Sympathy is a rare commodity when it comes to bookmakers, and it is likely to be in short supply again next week when representatives of the industry attend a meeting, chaired by Richard Caborn, to determine how much money they should hand over to sport to satisfy concerns over integrity issues. As revealed here last month, the government backs the major governing bodies in demanding that a share of the £500m gambled on sports other than racing should be contributed by bookies to protecting the integrity of competition and grass-roots projects. The government is reluctant to legislate to force the bookmakers' hand and Caborn will attempt to bring the two sides to agreement, with sport hoping for more than £5m.

Changing places

A spring round of musical chairs in sporting communications departments has seen Tottenham Hotspur's press manager Phil Dorward leave after only a year, although club sources deny that the former BBC man's departure follows a falling-out with the director Donna Cullen. Meanwhile Helen Wood, formerly of Uefa, Chelsea, Portsmouth and most recently Southampton, is to join Vero, the PR consultancy run by Mike Lee, the former spinmeister for London 2012.

New idea, old faces

The reform of the FA Council ushered in by the Burns report is likely to mean some of the most experienced men in football join the extended body. The Professional Footballers' Association chief executive, Gordon Taylor, left, his counterpart at the League Managers Association, John Barnwell, and Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, are all likely to seek nomination. Referees will also be represented, with Keith Hackett among the favourites to get the nod.